Host Club? What's That?
by The Fighting Dreamers
Summary: That was the question Sakura asked the moment she saw Ouran High’s Host Club; but how will she and her friend Rei respond when they find more than just an answer to that question?


"**Host Club? What's that?"**

**Summary – **_That was the question Sakura asked the moment she saw Ouran High's Host Club; but how will she and her friend Rei respond when they find more than just an answer to that question?_

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Don't worry – for those of you that care, this isn't a replacement for Dying Embers – rather a way to try out something new and see if we can write a romantic comedy. Wonder how it's going to turn out – before I even start – please review (ah, but don't flame '). Anyways, here we go!

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**Chapter 01 – A New Dark Lord, Lord Ecchi and Maids**

"Wow! It's incredible Rei chan! I've never seen anything so beautiful in my life and I never thought I would – at least not having anything to do with education…"

Harumai Sakura stood before the gates of the prestigious Ouran High School, school of the rich and famous – or as Rei put it, school of the rich, snot nosed brats – awed, her shimmering blue eyes widened to their full extent as she gazed down towards the main buildings of the school. School? It was more like a palace! Stretching across almost as far as her eyes could see, luscious vegetation framed much of the school with delicate flower gardens on the edges. A path led through the gates down to the main building, though there were another 50 or so hidden behind it and on either side of the path more buildings overshadowed the swarming students. Architecturally beautiful, the school buildings were mainly white and cleaner than the kitchen of a very assertive mother – Sakura wouldn't be surprised if the caretakers checked every inch of the school each day, making sure it was pristine.

Kashiwagi Rei, standing beside her dumb founded friend, clucked her tongue impatiently. Sure the school was big; sure rich kids, famous around the world, went there, but why should she care? It's not like she was one of them. She and Sakura would be considered outsiders from the moment they stepped through the gates, not only due to the fact that neither of them had the uniform, but also seeing as compared to these kids, they were rolling in poverty.

Rei observed the uniforms of the students distastefully; the boy's uniform was acceptable, a blue blazer, white shirt, tie and black trousers and shoes; it was the girl's uniform she couldn't stomach: yellow (what looked to her like) ballroom dresses, puffy and old fashioned with frills in odd places, and a single black ribbon tied on the front, very thin and very strict. She sighed. She just knew she wasn't going to like this place; she probably wouldn't have bothered applying if Sakura hadn't begged her. She threw a sidelong glance at Sakura, who stood enchanted by the school, eyes glittering, before 

narrowing her own dark green eyes and sighing again. At least she could be grateful she couldn't afford their uniform and was wearing her old school's one.

Sakura tore her star crossed gaze away from the school to observe her friend Rei. Rather than the fairytale moment she herself was experiencing, Rei seemed to be more annoyed and irritated than ever before. The smile Sakura had been wearing since she saw the school from a distance some time ago fell from her face; it had been her set on coming to the school, though Rei had seemed less than keen, Sakura had insisted and had begged and begged to be able to come. Rei and Sakura went to different schools, although they were neighbours. Because of this they didn't get to spend as much time together as they would have done, but had remained close friends through the years, despite their varying personalities, promising that they would go to the same high school at the very least. Now all these years later and that dream was finally coming true – Sakura was going to be going to the same school as her best friend, a private academy at that! The only problem was Rei seemed upset about it… Sakura bit her lip and looked at the school again; was this really the right idea? Sure they'd passed the scholarship exam with flying colours, but if Rei didn't want to be here, was this the right choice?

Sakura jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder, squeaking in surprise; Rei smiled at her, all trace of annoyance gone,

"Come now Sakura chan, are we gonna stand here and look at it all day? Or are we gonna get down to some action, and actually go see this place?"

Without waiting for a reply Rei grabbed her hand and dragged her down the path, Sakura stuttering wildly behind her,

"Anyuu! But Rei chan – I – I thought you didn't like it – we don't have to you know – another sch-"

"It's fine, it's fine!" replied Rei, not even looking back, "sure there're some rich snobs. Sure we're gonna stand out like sore thumbs in this mass of blue and yellow. But it doesn't matter, 'cos I've just realised, I don't actually care." Sakura stared at Rei's back, amazed as they continued walking, feeling the stares of surprise from the other students loitering along the path, "Either way, Sakura, love us, or hate us, they're just gonna have to deal with it because we're here to stay." She turned on the spot and gave Sakura a grin and a cheeky wink, "Ne?"

Sakura returned the smile happily, "Hai!"

--

A ginger haired boy sighed as he sat at his desk, nibbling the end of his pencil, bored. He glanced around the class; the usual, talking about homework, talking about fashion, talking about sport, talking about guys... In other words, _boring._ He hated being bored. He took a sidelong look at his mirror image, his twin; identical in appearance, the only 

difference being his parting on the right rather than the left; sharing a similar look of listlessness, though not as pronounced.

Stretching, he called to his twin, "Hey Kaoru, can't wait 'til this is over, huh?"

Kaoru smiled, "Yeah. But guess what, Hikaru; we have a whole day to go. It's just the morning."

Hikaru pulled a face, "You got that right, torture, every last minute of it."

"At least we can go annoy Milord during break and lunch."

"Yeah… but I still can't take this boredom… just gotta hope something will break the monotone of everyday school life."

Kaoru nodded, indicating the desk between them and the one in front of it, "Well you never know, maybe these will be filled today."

They shared a look and laughed; _sure,_ as if anyone would get into Ouran! Anybody meant to be here was already here and that was that. The students looked round as the teacher entered the class, register under one arm, looking bored.

An interesting teacher indeed, he had many of the female students adoring him from a distance due to his good looks and indifference to anyone _but_ girls; the only problem was, he was obsessed with himself. The moment he entered a collective sigh rose from most of the female students, all suddenly sitting neatly behind their desks, faces glowing; Onigiri Sensei flashed the class a smile as he stood behind his desk and opened his desk draw to get a pen, in reality examining his features in the mirror concealed within. _It hurts to look so good…_ He had dark hair framing his face and bright blue eyes, which were key to enrapturing Ouran's girls. Finally, he looked up and began to call the register, girls answering with an energetic "Hai sensei!" the boys more subdued, with merely a grunt of "Yeah."

Register done, he tucked it under his arm, obviously to look cool, and cleared his throat importantly, grinning when he saw the girls were hanging on to his every word,

"Well class, a week into our first term and it seems we have some late arrivals to our flock," students exchanged looks, unsure, "as some of you may be aware, today we are delighted to welcome two scholarship students to our class. You may have seen them about this morning seeing as they stand out a bit, but I want you to treat them as one of your own and make them feel at home." He surveyed the muttering class, before walking towards the door, the whispers dying away as he opened it saying "you can come in now."

Hikaru grinned at Kaoru mischievously, "I can't wait to see what sort of geeks we can make fun of; we haven't had a new toy in ages. We have to do the old toilet trick while 

we're at it-" he broke off as Kaoru raised a hand to quiet him and pointed to the front of the class,

"I don't think you'll be trying that toilet trick any time soon, Hikaru. They won't even be going near ours, unless they're cross dressers," Kaoru rested his chin on his hand, "They're something else, that's for sure."

Hikaru looked at the new comers, disbelievingly, "Something else or not, they can still be our toys," he hissed covering up, before turning his attention back to the new arrivals.

Kaoru hid a smile, _distracted already? We're more alike than he thinks…_

Sakura glanced around the class, visibly nervous, shaking slightly; she wasn't one for crowds of people she didn't know staring at her openly. Rei seemed more composed and stood beside Sakura, frowning slightly at the interest they were attracting. It felt as if they were animals in a zoo, foreign creatures to be gawked at and pitied. _Sure, we're not as rich as them, but they don't have to flaunt it…_ Rei thought, frown deepening ever so slightly. The sensei had been very nice to them, as had the other members of staff;_ they_ were treating them normally, so why couldn't this lot?

Onigiri Sensei had just finished his second speech of the day, reiterating the need for kindness to new comers and turned to the girls smiling,

"Now girls, why don't you introduce yourselves? After you," he added nodding at Sakura who gulped and took a wobbly step forward, legs feeling as though they'd collapse under her. Voice higher than usual, she twisted her short skirt in her hands, the only outlet for her nerves.

"Anyuu… "She bowed, "Pleased to meet you all – I'm – I'm Harumai Sakura." She looked up, hoping that was it, but Onigiri sensei wasn't satisfied,

"How about you tell us a little more about yourself? You both come from a slightly different walk of life to our students here, I'm sure they'd be fascinated to know more about you."

Sakura's cheeks flushed as she stuttered, "I, um, swim for a club and compete in galas… I- I also like rock and pop music and make websites as a hobby. I like anime and manga, I'm a regular otaku I guess, heh heh... I play the clarinet and have a guitar… eto…" Here her blush deepened and her voice became little more than a whisper, "Finally… I like the stars…" She averted her gaze from the class, feeling she'd said too much, missing the expressions of the students; a number of girls were cooing at her, almost seeing her as a little sister, while the majority of the guys were eyeing her figure up and down, particularly focusing on her short skirt.

Onigiri sensei nodded, "Let's gives her an applause shall we, class?" A polite clap echoed round the room, as Sakura took a deep breath, clearing her of her fears and gave the class a warm smile, eyes sparkling. Under the noise of the class, Kaoru looked at his brother,

"Ne, Hikaru. She's pretty cute, huh?" Hikaru was about to answer as Onigiri's voice rose over the renewed silence, "Why don't you sit down… how about at the back, between Hikaru and Kaoru – they're the twins. I'm sure they'll look after you." Both in question looked up as the girl weaved her way between the desks, many eyes following her progress. She came to a halt in front of her new desk, long gold hair swaying and offered her hand to each twin in turn,

"Nice to meet you. I suppose I'll be bothering you two for the rest of the year, huh?" She laughed nervously before sitting down, focusing on the remaining girl, who looked grumpier than ever.

Rei had seen the eyes following her friend and unlike Sakura she could also see the intention behind them, while finding similar stares directed at herself, she seethed inwardly; to make things clear, she didn't like it. When Onigiri sensei looked at her, she threw her long dark waves of hair back before narrowing her eyes, speaking before he had even asked,

"Kashiwagi Rei. I play the flute, piano and guitar. I live near Sakura chan and we watch anime together on the weekends. Reading's definitely a passion of mine as is the internet; I can spend ours on it if you let me. I play video games, though I usually don't get further than the first few levels and like to experiment with cooking…" She said all this amiably enough, but it was the final few words which were laced with a thin layer of a threat, "… also…I like to look out for my friends. If any of you upset Sakura in any way… you'll have me to answer to," A cheery smile graced her face, "but seeing as that's not gonna happen, we'll get along just fine!"

Sakura laughed nervously, breaking the silence that had fallen. Onigiri cleared his throat,

"Well the last desk is just in front of Harumai san, if you would," as he said this Rei swept off and within moments sat in her seat listening to the notices Onigiri had started going through.

Kaoru grimaced as he looked at the back of her head. If he was right about her, then another Dark Lord had just arrived at the door carrying flowers… but this time it was a girl…

"That was one of the most boring lessons I've experienced in my life," muttered Rei, folding her arms behind her head as she walked alongside Sakura down the richly decorated corridor.

Sakura giggled, "Don't exaggerate Rei chan, it wasn't that bad. More importantly, what do you think of the people in our class and the disappearance of the whole female population at break and lunch?"

Rei looked up at the ceiling scratching here chin thoughtfully, "Well they seem ok, though right now they see us more as objects of fascination than friends; guess they're really not used to commoners around here. The girls scarper at break and lunch, you're right…" She then scratched her head and grinned, "Don't know about you, Sakura chan, but it seems like this is a mystery we'll have to find out about," she yawned, "maybe tomorrow…"

Sakura pouted, "Rei chan! After starting something like that, you can't very well finish it without trying! I'm excited now and I'm sure we can find out the reason _right now_, if we put our minds to it, that is."

"Aww, but Sakura chan," whined a tired Rei, her arms hanging limply from her sides, "I'm tired and we've got all of tomorrow…" she stopped as she saw Sakura frowning, "Alright, alright – I just can't be bothered… but-" she stopped again. Sakura was using 'the face.' This involved looking as though you're about to cry and pouting a lot.

"Nyuu…"

Rei sighed, "Alright, I got it; we'll go solve the case. Just please, please, stop using 'the face.'"

Sakura's face cleared and she smiled, "I think I've already got an idea of where to look – the clubs – they must all belong to some sort of Zuka club, you know like the one back at that school we visited - Lobelia."

Rei shuddered, _Lobelia…_ "Hai, hai, lead the way Detective Mai."

For the expedition, Sakura had insisted they go to the Drama Club first, though at first Rei had no idea why. She doubted the Drama Club would be behind this case. It seemed Sakura did too, as the first thing she did was run to a guy with a badge, the word "President" on it, and ask about borrowing some costumes. He'd blushed at her cheerful smile and pointed to the stage, Sakura following him behind the curtain. Moments later she had emerged holding a pile of various garments in her arms and motioned Rei to follow her to the changing rooms located on the side.

It was as she made her way across the room, occupied by a number of mimes, a king and queen and some sort of vegetable, that she realised what this meant and slapped her forehead. _Cosplay._ Sakura adored it, and if they were at the drama club this could only mean on thing…

Minutes after entering the dressing room, both girls emerged, wearing something that made Rei cringe to the depths of her soul… Sakura smiled at the scowling Rei,

"Gomen Rei chan, they were out of detective clothes, but they said we could have these, not bad, ne?"

A vein throbbed near Rei's temple and she spoke through gritted teeth, "But Sakura chan… why these?"

Both Sakura and Rei were dressed in maid outfits, black with a white apron over the top, Rei had only agreed to it if she was to have the slightly less girly one, the ribbon at the back being smaller and the skirt being a little longer to Sakura's, which looked like a standard high school skirt. Needless to say, they certainly didn't look like they were going to solve a mystery; more like entertain a bunch of perverted males.

Sakura put a finger to her chin, "Well, the president said that if he could see us wearing these when we left we could even keep them!" Sakura's pensive look disappeared, replaced with a naïve smile, "Wasn't that nice of him, Rei chan?"

Rei sighed, annoyance leaving her, _honestly… too innocent…_

--

Rei could only be grateful that the school was mostly empty now, corridors deserted, any students being safely inside their club rooms, so there was no one to see her. Sakura skipped along ahead of her, long gold hair shivering and her bag bouncing on her side, oblivious to everything. Sure, usually Sakura was quiet and shy, but when she had her mind set on something there was no stopping her. She could be bubbly and sometimes even an air head, though people rarely saw this side of her. Unless they got to know her it was next to impossible… pity… Rei could be confident in saying that despite being quiet she could usually act however she wanted in front of complete strangers, although that wasn't necessarily a good thing, she reminded herself – she usually found herself being extremely blunt to the point of hurt feelings, though this was _mainly_ unintentional.

Rei looked up as Sakura knocked on a door; so lost in her thoughts she hadn't noticed that Sakura had led them all the way outside and across a football pitch to where a building stood, obviously the club room. Rei sighed; she really had to start paying more attention.

"Where are we?"

Sakura put a finger to her lips as the door opened, "Shh, the American Football Club's base."

A tall guy came out, holding an orange in one hand; he took a bite, skin still on, "What is it?"

Sakura squeaked and promptly sat on the ground, "Scary…"

Rei looked up at him, painfully aware of what she was wearing, but she trekked on gallantly, "Kashiwagi Rei, nice to meet you."

"Takeshi Kuze, same." He glanced at Sakura sitting on the ground looking up at him in awe, "What's up with her?" he asked jerking his head towards her.

"That's Harumai Sakura, she's not used to seeing guys eat fruit so…what's the word… freakily. Anyway, we're here to ask you about why girls keep disappearing at break and lunch; do you have any idea why?"

Takeshi frowned, "Thought everyone knew about that lot. They sit around all high and mighty just because a few girls think they're good looking – weird in my opinion and personally I believe they may be a little _bent_ in their ways, if you catch my drift."

As they spoke, Sakura, who had snaked her way silently behind Takeshi, peered through the door into the inside of the room; a dozen eyes looked out at her, shining in the gloom. Interested she moved closer to get a better look.

Rei nodded "Crystal clear. Where would we find these guys, um, _bent_ in their ways?"

Sakura jumped as a voice came from one of the figures, bent over a fruit eating it with its skin on; they were all doing it. He held out the round fruit with a smile,

"Orange?"

Sakura jumped back and darted around Takeshi, without saying a word. She grabbed Rei under the arm and started dragging her back up to the school at a furious speed, as Takeshi called after them, "I'd try the 3rd music room if I were you."

A muffled "Thanks!" replied on the breeze.

"This is the place, ne, Rei chan?"

Sakura and Rei stood in front of the door of the 3rd music room, Rei once more with arms folded behind her head looking indifferent, although in reality her insides were dancing; _after this it's time to go home, woo, oh yeah, time to go home!_

"You wanna go first, or should I?"

Rei shrugged; she hardly cared, home was all that was on her mind at the moment,

"It's ok, go ahead."

Sakura nodded and reached for the handle, barely twisting it, it swung forward gracefully and a swirl of petals fluttered out on a breeze, encircling them, a white light shining almost blinding them. As their vision returned they saw a group of young men, one sitting in a grand red chair, the rest surrounding him as though knights to a king; they were dressed in the ouran uniform and their voices came in unison,

"Irasshaimase!"

Sakura gasped, eyes lighting up, her otaku senses tingling; _a reverse harem?_

For Rei it was one of those "what the fu-" moments, she simply stared at the display in dismay. Bent? No way. These guys were at a freakin' u-bend!

In the centre a guy with blue eyes and messy yet strangely neat blond hair sat, smiling grandly at them, stretching out a romantically red rose. A second blond kid, looking about 10, stood to his left, honey coloured hair falling about his face, a pink rabbit in his arms and a smile so big it seemed too large for his face. Behind him stood a tall guy with dark spiked hair, he alone was not smiling, but radiated a gentle aura, his dark eyes warm and calm. In the centre, right behind the main chair, stood a megane; a dark haired guy with glasses which glinted, a shrewd smile and calculating eyes. Finally, arms over each other, stood the two ginger haired twins, Hikaru and Kaoru, smiling cheekily; they were the only ones to recognise the girls, dropping the pose, they stared.

A silence fell between both groups, neither knowing what to say. Finally the twins spoke together,

"Ah, so you found out about the club too. You must be prospective clients then."

The dark haired, bespectacled guy pushed his glasses up his nose, "So I presume you know these two, Hikaru, Kaoru. Same class, perhaps…" he flipped open a clipboard and scanned it quickly. Then, looking up, he smiled, "I see, you two are the new scholarship students," he pointed at Sakura "Harumai Sakura," then at Rei, "and Kashiwagi Rei. Interesting, that you came here. It seems that even commoners care for such treats now and again."

The blond in the centre leaned forwards in his chair. He had been stationary for some time now, analysing the two before him; _wearing maid outfits, similar to the ones some staff wear at home, though these are far more revealing…_

"Scholarship students? So you have to work as maids part time? Oh you poor things!" He stood as the twins exchanged looks, shrugging, and the little honey haired kid cooed. He began to make his way towards Rei, but feeling the waves of evil intent, he swerved suddenly to Sakura, putting a hand on her shoulder and pulling her into the room.

"You poor thing. Woking hours for a master who cares nothing for you, you finally come to the school of your imaginings, yet can't even afford a uniform. Now you've stumbled into the place where all your dreams can come true!" Tears filling his eyes, he sparkled, petals dancing around him, as a disgruntled Rei followed him in, closing the door behind her. "To think such a flower could be made to suffer so much, the delicate petals, drooping as you slowly wilt under the pressure, despite trying your best to maintain your character and dignity!"

All the while Sakura was looking up at him, entranced, _like a prince… though a little bit over dramatic… guess he likes soap operas…_ Finally he turned to look at her fully in the eyes, and she felt her heart miss a beat as she saw the sincerity within, "I, Suoh Tamaki, prince of the Ouran High School Host Club, promise to look after you and make all your dreams come true, so that at least for a few hours, the torture you suffer can be lifted."

Sakura tilted her head to the side, questioningly, "Host Club? What's that?"

Suddenly Tamaki seemed more business like as he turned to the members of 'the Ouran High School Host Club' and waved a hand towards each member as he spoke, arm firmly around Sakura's shoulder, Rei standing behind gloomily, "Each butterfly has a preference for a different type of nectar, and you'll be no different, we just have to determine what that preference is." He waved a hand at the tall guy with dark spiky hair; "Perhaps you like the wild type. And as such, Morinozuka Takashi would be your choice." He pointed at the honey haired kid, "Or perhaps the face of an adorable loli-shota is what makes you giddy. Then Haninozuka Mitsukuni would be the one."

He swept a hand over to his right, indicating the twins, "Or maybe, little devils? Hitachiin brothers Hikaru and Kaoru; they're masters of that category." He finally indicated the bespectacled dark haired guy, "The cool type, Ootori Kyoya is also a popular choice. Many find his indifference charming to the extreme. "

As he had been introducing the various people, Sakura had been memorizing names, barely paying attention to what Tamaki was actually asking of her, Rei too seemed perplexed by the sheer absurdity of what was happening in front of her, _are these guys for real?_

Sakura now had her finger pressed to her lip, seeming to be in deep thought, she didn't react at first when Tamaki, pulled her towards the group, the petals still following, a sweet aroma wafting about them. Finally in front of the group, Sakura was brought into a sudden and unexpected reality as Tamaki took her arm and twirled her once, skirt swirling high, before leaning towards her, supporting her with a hand placed firmly on her back; Sakura squeaked a "nyuu" in surprise. With his free hand he caressed her face lightly, smiling gently as a hue of rose pink shot across her cheeks,

"Or perhaps you'd prefer to try me, the prince type." He leaned even closer, faces mere millimetres apart, "How about it?"

It was at this point when the battle cry rang throughout the room,

"What do you think you're doing!?"

She had rushed across the room like a bolt of lightning, fist outstretched, she aimed a punch at Tamaki's head – let's just say she gets over protective in situations like these. Unfortunately for Rei, her fist collided with the wrong target… Rather than hitting Tamaki, who had dropped to the floor at the last moment, her fist hit the person standing behind him, who moments before had raised an eyebrow in surprise; glasses crunching unpleasantly, mingled with a sound of breaking glass, he kneeled to the floor.

Rei's mouth dropped open and she backed away a few paces, knocking something as she stumbled a bit, _Oh my God! I decked the wrong dude! _She looked at Kyoya, who was now surrounded by the members of the club, but for one exception, their concern ringing around the room.

"Kyoya, you ok there, buddy? Take a look at that…"

"Wow that musta hurt, and look at your glasses – best be glad they took most of the damage – what are these made of? Steel?"

"Ahhh, Kyo chan! You ok? Here take bun bun, you'll feel better!"

"Violence is not the answer."

Rei stood isolated, mind racing. She didn't even notice when Kyoya stood up, reached into his pocket and pulled out a second pair of glasses and placed them on his nose, muttering about the importance of being prepared. Without so much as a blink of an eye, and without even looking remotely surprised, he immediately started scribbling on his clipboard. Rei sank to the ground and sat in silence…

"Milord! Don't you think that maybe that's been going on long enough?"

Hikaru's voice alerted the surrounding group to the host club king's plight; Kaoru and Hikaru shared a devilish smirk, while Kyoya simply pushed his new glasses up his nose; Mori seemed unaffected by the scene, while Hunny looked innocently surprised, before smiling and cheering, "Wai! You're really fast Tama chan!" The empty shell that was Rei, managed to widen her eyes.

Having ducked to avoid Rei's assault, Tamaki had lost his balance and fell forwards onto Sakura, the position possibly described as decidedly awkward. He opened his dark blue eyes and met her set of sky blue ones. Her blush, which had been growing steadily before, was now in full bloom, her golden hair splayed out about her head, she looked up at him, vaguely surprised to see a blush forming on his face. She felt his weight on top of her, and felt nervous when she felt his heart racing as fast as hers, though a little relieved 

that at least she wasn't the only one. Tamaki had begun to realise where he was; he opened his mouth starting to apologise and move backwards,

"I'm really, really sorr-"

It was at this point that Rei, backing away, had stumbled as she knocked into something. That something just happened to be Tamaki. The sudden unexpected force pushed him forwards, this time further than the original fall; he closed his eyes… He felt something soft pressed against his lips, but for a moment felt himself enjoying the touch, and the rhythm of the heart beating below him… below him?! It was now that he realised where he was and heard Hikaru's voice,

"Milord! Don't you think that maybe that's been going on long enough?"

Tamaki sprung up, a furious blush spread across this face, he covered his mouth with his hand and stepped backwards, blue eyes screaming not only embarrassment, but surprise at the feeling of enjoyment and slight disappointment now within him.

Sakura sat up slowly as Hunny's voice cheered, "Wai! You're really fast Tama chan!"

She placed a finger on her lips and traced the outline, slowly, her cheeks still hued rose. She then felt a tingle up her spine, and shivered as the thought dawned upon her,_ not only had he not pulled away… she most certainly hadn't even considered it…_

When Tamaki, trying to contain his embarrassment, offered her his hand, she accepted, still thinking hard, and jumped lightly to her feet. As the twins started teasing the blond haired club prince, she took a quick survey of her surroundings; Rei was sitting huddled in a corner looking utterly miserable, whilst Kyoya's hand flew across his clipboard; Hunny was approaching on Mori's shoulders, literally beaming at her. When close enough, he hopped down and ran that last metre or so grabbing her hands and smiling up at her,

"Wow! That's was really something! I've never seen Tama chan blush so much, but I guess we should be saying sorry, ne?"

Hikaru nudged Kaoru as he interjected, "Nah, Hunny, you don't get it; it's baka lord over there that's gotta apologise."

Kaoru nodded, "Yes, indeed; he enjoyed the crime, now he'd better do the time."

Tamaki opened his mouth, as a silence fell, before glaring at them, knowing this wasn't a coincidence; they were enjoying watching him suffer. He finally looked Sakura in the eyes, serious,

"Ano, Sakura san, I'm truly sorry for what happened, it was completely unintentional and I hope you can forgive me, if there's anyway I can make it up to you-"

Sakura interrupted. Once again seeing his obvious sincerity, she felt compelled to take some of the blame, though uncertain why,

"Anyuu, it's alright, we're both to blame and as it was an accident, think nothing of it," her shy temperament retreated slightly as she tilted her head and smiled, "Oh and Tamaki senpai, please call me Sakura _chan_, ne?"

Tamaki turned quickly on the spot, hiding a fresh tinge of red, he held his head in a dignified way and said in a perfectly calm voice, "Sure."

Sakura couldn't help but smile, _he's kinda cute when he's embarrassed…_

Cute or not cute, it wouldn't matter; nothing and nobody was safe from the dark lord when he had arisen. Where Tamaki was the light hearted prince of the host club, some maintained that the lord below him, vice president Ootori Kyoya, was the real person in control; his darker nature giving him the title of Shadow King, he was known within the club for his manipulative nature and limitless resources. Sadly for Rei, she was about to experience first hand, just _how_ persuasive he could be…

Even as Tamaki led Sakura over to a nearby sofa, explaining to her in great detail how the host club worked, Hikaru, Kaoru, Hunny and Mori joining them, Kyoya, marched swiftly over to Rei, examining his clipboard; he cleared his throat as he stood in front of her, pushing his glasses back up his nose as they slid forwards; Rei looked up,

"Well Kashiwagi san, it seems that an unfortunate mistake has occurred, wouldn't you agree? Fortunately I always come prepared and had my spare set of glasses with me; however, there is the-"

Rei stumbled to her feet, "Um Mr Kyoya Sir, um yeah… look I'm really sorry about what happened. I really wasn't aiming for you. I meant to hit the airhead-" over from the sofa Tamaki shot her a dark look which screamed revenge, but Rei paid him no heed, "-if there's anyway, anyway at all that I could repay you, I'd be more than-"

"Well, yes, that's exactly what I was coming to," he pushed his glasses up his nose again, dark raven hair falling into his eyes as he spoke, "there is a small fee regarding the glasses, I'd hope you'd be willing to pay-"

Rei nodded her head vigorously, locks of hair falling about her face, "I'll pay – of course I will-"

"£10,000."

"What?! I mean, pardon, I must have misheard you," Rei's posture was now stiff with surprise, "Did you just say £10,000?"

"I did indeed."

Rei forced a nervous laugh, "Dude, you've gotta be kidding me," she replied, dropping the politer speech she now glared at him, "Who on earth can buy glasses that cost half a flat?"

Kyoya smiled slyly, incensing Rei further, "Well I'm afraid, due to the Ootori family's wide stretched connections, as well as their immense wealth, buying glasses at such a price would be considered quite common. So if you will-"

"You gotta be kidding! There's no way I have that kinda money!"

"Yes, seeing as you can't even afford the uniform, and choose to work as maids, I would suppose that is feasible."

Rei, thinking he was relenting, calmed her voice, "Yeah, so I guess there's no way we can-"

Sakura's voice cut across her, "Anyuu, Rei chan, don't bring me into this, it's 'I' not 'we."

Rei muttered under her voice, "traitor" but gasped as Kyoya held up a various number of photographs, his glasses flashing in the sudden wave of light,

"Well Kashiwagi san, I understand that you may dislike the idea, but you could both work here, seeing as you're just so eager to contribute reparations, that is. Of course you don't have to… but," he brandished the photos, a collection showing Sakura and Rei herself, at the beach, amongst others revealing a lot of skin, "the Ootori family has a fully trained police force, and I wouldn't be held responsible if they acted on their own. I do hope for your sake your passport is prepared."

The devilishly serene smile gracing his face sent waves of cold terror, mixed with hot anger down Rei's spine; _who is this guy?! _She sank to the floor again on her knees, turning stone-like, she said nothing.

Sakura sighed from her position between Tamaki and Hunny, holding the pink rabbit offered to her more tightly, _Rei chan… you have to learn to control your temper…_She forced a smile; it didn't look like Rei would be replying anytime soon,

"Anyuu, we'd be happy to do it, I guess… but what exactly can we do? I mean, from what Tamaki senpai has told me about your host club, it doesn't seem as though there's anything we, as girls, can do."

Kyoya looked at Tamaki, "That's a point there, but the floors and toilets could always do with a cleaning… our customers deserve the best, do they not, Tamaki?"

Tamaki lifted his hand to his face thoughtfully, looking Sakura up and down, as she struggled to hide her blush,

"Well, why not allow them to continue with something they're good at? If they're maids for some master, they're familiar with the sort of tasks they'd have to perform here."

Sakura tried to interrupt – these guys really seemed to believe they were maids, hadn't they heard of Cosplay? "Ano, we aren't really-"

Tamaki held up his hand to stop her; wrapping an arm around her shoulder he pointed to the imaginary heavens in the ceiling, "No need to thank me, sweet cherry blossom. This way you will be able to call me "Master!"

Rei incapacitated by shock did nothing; Sakura blushed furiously, this was too much. Hikaru leaned forward from his position standing behind the sofa, on her right, while Kaoru did the same on her left,

"You can call us "Master" too," they grinned in unison, a distinctly evil shadow passing over their faces. Hunny jumped into Sakura's lap, a naïve smile on his face,

"Ah, Mai chan, you can call Bun-Bun and me "Master" if you want! Takashi too, ne?"

Mori nodded inexpressively, "Ah."

Sakura's blush deepened, _**really**__ too much!_ "Um, so you want us to act like maids to pay back the debt… I guess there isn't a choice, huh? Question; where are all the customers? Shouldn't you be overrun?"

Tamaki smiled a distant look in his eyes, "Oh, today the precious butterflies have to await their sip of nectar… from such a long time apart, I must admit we are less organised than usual and so have taken time today to adjust ourselves to reaching out to the fair maidens' hearts."

Sakura titled her head, "Nyuu?"

Kaoru rolled his eyes, "Basically he means we need more time so we told the customers to come an hour later today-"

Hikaru sighed, "And it doesn't help that milord can be a complete scatterbrain-"

"- so that means we're behind schedule-"

"- but of course, with him around we're never on time, anyways, ne Kaoru?"

"True, Hikaru, very true. Ah, when I think of the number of hours of our lives we waste while under his rule, it brings a sad tear to my eyes."

The twins smirked as Tamaki visibly fumed, muttering something about "unscrupulous twins without manners – without a brain to share between them-" To which the twins grinned,

"Oh no milord, we don't share a brain between us-"

"- in fact we're rather gifted–"

Hikaru leaned towards Kaoru, caressing his brother's cheek softly, "-but everything else… we share all the rest, don't we Kaoru?"

Where Hikaru's voice had gotten deeper, Kaoru's became softer and gentler, "Hikaru…" They seemed to pose in the position, gazing into each other's eyes, until -

"Enough of that, you two – save it for the customers." Kyoya had made his way over, dragging a bedraggled Rei, who collapsed on a second adjacent sofa and put her head into her hands. The twins broke apart looking bored as Rei muttered darkly to herself,

"This just can't be happening… first maids… now mental patients … how much does God think I can take?"

--

Sakura gave her a weak smile before turning to Tamaki,

"Um, Tamaki senpai-"

Tamaki raised a hand, running it through his hair, "Please – call me master."

"-um okay." Sakura started feeling stupid, "Mas-"

Again she was interrupted by the drama of the Host Club Prince, "Do it properly, just like the ones on the show, 'Maids, Butlers - Nurse?!'"

Sakura hadn't a clue what he was talking about, but shrugged and stood, taking a step away; Rei had narrowed her eyes and was watching over clasped hands,

Sakura spun on the spot, a bright smile on her face; she bowed her head as she took a step towards the blond,

"Master!" She raised her hand to her chest, "Would you be wanting me for anything tonight?"

A silence greeted this performance; Tamaki was slowly becoming redder and redder, seemingly about to explode; the twins were exchanging perverted grins; Hunny started applauding while Mori looked blank; Kyoya pushed his glasses up his nose with an elegant finger. It happened in a wave of speed; Tamaki jumped forwards throwing his arms around her, while Hikaru and Kaoru began to weep fake tears with cries of "poor child! Sweet child! So innocent!" Rei leapt forward, ready to intervene, while Hunny cooed, "Poor Mai chan, we need to give her some plates to take home, ne, Takashi?" and Mori nodded with a customary "Ah."

Holding back the flailing Rei with one hand, the other around Sakura, Tamaki cried a vast sea of tears,

"You poor sweet child, you are so adorable! I now know the truth, the reason for the way I've been feeling. Yes, you! You are my daughter! I am your father! It makes sense now, don't you worry my tender petal; as I said, Daddy will protect you."

Sakura blinked, "Daddy?"

Tamaki squealed, "My precious!" turning to look behind him, "Mom, Mom! Did you hear that? Our child! She called me 'Daddy!'" his bone crunching hug intensifying now that Rei was simply staring, marvelling at his idiocy,

"Wait a second; who's mom?"

Kyoya rubbed his chin, "Judging by the direction he looked in, that would be me."

Tamaki nodded enthusiastically, "Yes indeed, Kyo. I have now realised! We truly are a family, now that our daughter has joined us!" He pointed at Hikaru and Kaoru, "They are your brothers, my daughter; they will love and serve you with all their souls, if ever anything should happen to me."

Sakura laughed, embarrassed, as Hikaru and Kaoru exchanged bemused looks, _what is this, the middle ages? _It sounded like some knight would exact a violent revenge on him, for stealing his chicken, before decapitating him brutally. Tamaki now pointed at Hunny and Mori, "And they, of course, are your Uncle Hunny and Uncle Mori." He was suddenly sparkling with glitter, "and with me as your Father and Kyo as your Mother, our family is now complete."

Kyoya shook his head, "Ah, ah. Only 17 and I already have 3 kids… where has my youth gone?"

Rei frowned, she didn't really care to take part in this madness, but she hated being ignored, "Hey, what about me?"

Tamaki looked at her with a withering glance of insignificance, "Oh, you… Hmm… Ah, I see, yes, that'll do." He pointed the legendary finger at her, eyes alight with a hidden malice, "My daughter, this is your third cousin, twice removed - in other words, not very important."

Rei's mouth dropped open as Hikaru and Kaoru sniggered.

_Third cousin twice removed…? This has got to be a joke…_

In Tamaki's language this was merely part of a "Convenient revenge."

--

"Tell us again, Tamaki san, who are the two girls walking around today?"

"Yes and why are they dressed as maids? They're not very good at it, are they?"

"Are they part of your staff? You don't have to bring them you know, if you ever need a few to help out here and there, just ask me – you can borrow Hilda and Reeves – they're well suited to this sort of work."

"Now, ladies please, let me explain once more," Tamaki hushed the girls gathered around him on the elegant chairs and sofas, replacing his now empty cup of tea on to the table before him with a clink of china, "as you can see, the two young ladies serving us today are indeed maids, however they are also members of our school – they arrived this very day. Strange as it may seem at first, they are in fact commoners who suffer a life of servitude for a cruel master. To allow them a few hours of splendour, surrounded by such lovely creatures as yourselves, and to help repay Kyoya the expenses of a little accident, I have allowed the two to work here. I hope you understand – I could not deny them this honour, it would hurt me too much to see their faces crumble in misery at the thought of losing these positions. Perhaps they'll be able to strive towards a better future!" Tamaki was now emitting sparkling waves of tears at the thought of improving the lives of two young girls, and the girls surrounding him started to blush wildly.

"Oh Tamaki san, you're so kind and thoughtful!"

"Oh yes! And much more besides! You're helping those two even though it may be a burden to you – that's so wonderful and selfless!"

"Oh isn't it just?!"

"It is! It is!"

The girls chattered, impressed, while Tamaki shook his head modestly, "Now, now – it's nothing really – anyone would have done the same when they discovered that their 

daughter was in need to help." He nodded at the thought and smiled brightly at the now confused expressions about him.

"Tamaki san, do forgive me, but I'm afraid I must have misheard you…"

"Oh how silly of me, it seems I have too."

"Same here – I thought you just said 'daughter,' but surely I must be mistaken."

The girls giggled at the absurdity of the idea – Tamaki, a father? That sort of sordid idea was for lower classes, unheard of in their own society, it was nonetheless an amusing thought. However their giggles died quickly when they noticed the look on Tamaki's face; he looked blank yet still maintained an obvious air of charm despite the expression. He seemed to be confused as to why they were giggling, and now, as silence fell once more amongst the six or so gathered girls, he cleared his throat, unsure.

"I'm not entirely sure why everyone's laughing, but let me assure you that you heard me correctly – I do indeed have a daughter, although it is only on this day that I have met her once again." The faces around him were frozen in positions of polite shock and disbelief, while one girl's mouth had visibly dropped. Thankfully, the hearts of the whole female population in the room were soon beating again as he explained more thoroughly. "well you see, I never realised it before, but we, as the host club, are in fact a family," Tamaki smiled, excited, "don't you see? I am the father and Kyoya is of course the mother – the rest are my children and brothers – it took the arrival of my third child to realise this – oh and her third cousin twice removed."

Colour swam back to the pale faces of the young ladies, and they once more giggled, now that their moment of panic had passed – it was merely another of Master Tamaki's phases, nothing more. As the laughter died away and a content silence fell, one of the girls leaned forwards,

"I do think that Master Tamaki would make a wonderful father! So I'm assuming that Hikaru san and Kaoru san are your two children, but tell me, which of those young ladies is the third?"

"Oh yes, I'd love to know myself. Can we guess perhaps? And turn this into a game?"

"Oh do let's!"

"That sounds quite amusing!"

A brunette piped up, smiling brightly, "Perhaps we should put it to a vote – we guess who we think is the daughter of Master Tamaki, and then he reveals the answer?"

The girls turned to look at the blond, who simply smiled and tilted his head to the side, his golden threads of hair shivering and catching the light, "If my princesses so wish it. 

I'd love to introduce you to my daughter afterwards." The girls squealed excitedly, blushing and squirming in their seats – Tamaki truly was the prince type. "So shall we start?" A chorus of nods answered him. "Now, which of you thinks that the ebony haired pet is my child?"

A short silence followed while the girls examined Tamaki's expression for any clues in favour of this option, while some cast glances at the girl in question, who at that very moment was returning to the kitchen through a small side door, balancing a tray of cups and plates easily in one hand and carrying a stained pink plush rabbit in the other. She wasn't smiling, but she didn't glare either – it seemed as though she was an empty shell, simply waiting for her time of punishment to end. Her waves of hair whipped round the corner as she entered the door, allowing it to swing to a shut behind her.

Tamaki glanced at his watch and looked up, "How about the fair-haired haired flower? Do you think she could be my daughter?"

"Tamaki san, you must give us a chance to look at her too; I'm sure we'll be able to spot any resemblances then."

"Yes, you must."

Tamaki nodded, "Hai, hai, that is indeed only fair." He leaned back slightly in his chair, wondering with interest how many of the young ladies would guess correctly. Sakura with her fair hair could indeed be the one he chose as his daughter simply for that similarity; however, Rei's dark hair could also have been a good choice as she would then be comparable to Kyoya. Yes, it would indeed be quite hard. He smiled inwardly; for him it was as clear as day which one he'd rather hold close.

He glanced towards the door at the far side of the room as it finally swung open, and the second girl walked through, carrying a number of cups and a fresh pot of tea as well as a number of other refreshments on a tray. The pink plush rabbit which had been brought through with a brown stain on its face was balanced on her head, as bright a pink as it had been before its 'accident.' She stopped at a free table and put down the tray, before removing the pink plush from her head, where it had been threatening to fall, and carrying it to the teary eyed Hunny, who had been clutching Mori's arm at a nearby table as though waiting for a hazardous operation to be finished. The girls whom Hunny and Mori were serving were sitting on soft chairs nearby, looking as stony faced as though at a funeral.

Sakura approached the heavy scene, the pink rabbit hidden behind her back. Hunny looked up and sniffed loudly, his eyes swimming with tears; when he spoke his voice was coated in concern,

"Mai chan- is – is Bun-Bun okay?"

Sakura put on a grave face, "Well it was a tough battle… Rei and I thought we'd lose him at one point, the stain was that bad…" Hunny's face shivered and he looked down at the floor, lip trembling. Sakura's face brightened, "but then we found the soap and it took just a few minutes to clean him up!" She drew the plush toy from behind her back and held it out towards the honey haired boy before her.

Hunny's face cleared up in seconds and he reached out to pluck the rabbit into what would have felt like a bone-crushing hug to a living being, "Ahhh Bun-Bun's okay! He's okay! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Sakura smiled at his obvious delight and started to walk back to the tray. "It's Rei chan you ought to thank – she found the soap in the end. Though I do wonder how her head's feeling." Sakura paused to place a finger on her chin and glance up pensively at the ceiling, "She _did_ hit her head on the bottom of that table pretty hard… maybe I should-" she stopped and glanced down to find Hunny had caught her and was now hugging her waist and looking up at her with a thousand volt smile on his face.

"I really did mean it, Mai chan – thank you! Takashi and I will go say thank you to Rei-chan too, ne?"

Sakura grinned and stroked his hair softly, "That'll be great Hunny senpai."

Hunny laughed and ran back to Mori, jumping into his lap, "Takashi, as soon as we see Rei we've gotta grab her and say thanks, 'kay?"

Mori nodded, face devoid of emotion, yet gentle, "Ah."

Sakura returned to the tray and started to go round the room, offering tea and refreshments to the customers and hosts. Normally hosts would be expected to serve their customers while entertaining them, but that was now to be Sakura and Rei's job, as well as keeping everything clean. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Sakura's encounter had been watched by the girls of Tamaki's group with interest; a number had puzzled looks on their faces – could she be Tamaki's daughter? Others, however, looked decided. Tamaki himself seemed to be struggling to hide all emotions on his face; blinking he focused on the table ahead of him, closed his eyes for a few seconds and then looked up as Rei re-entered, doing the same as Sakura, though distinctly avoiding the twins,

"So, ladies, have you decided? Which of you say raven princess and which say the blond? Raise your hands for the first," two of the girls raised their hands, though they looked unsure. Tamaki nodded and smiled, "so I take it that the rest of you think second?" The remaining four girls nodded, decidedly more confident. "Shall I call her over then? My daughter, that is."

"Oh yes, please do, Tamaki san."

"You have to introduce us, Master Tamaki."

"Hai, hai." Turning, Tamaki called out, "Sakura chan? Could you please come over here for a moment?"

The two girls who had guessed wrong sighed and clasped their hands together as the other four giggled triumphantly and Sakura made her way over, still clutching the now half-full tray. "Hai Tamaki sama, what can I do for you and your guests?" She offered a short curtsy, "Would you perhaps want some more tea, Master? Or maybe some refreshments?"

Tamaki sparkled, "Yes, that would be lovely! More importantly, I wanted to introduce you to these lovely ladies, Sakura chan." He indicated Sakura with his hand and gave the girls a charming smile, "May I introduce my daughter, Harumai Sakura. As I told you, my exquisite beauties, we only met this very day, but you can tell can't you? We look so very much alike."

None of the girls could argue that; both had fair gold coloured hair, with astonishing blue eyes and fairly pale skin. Even their build was light and akin to a brother and sister, or perhaps indeed father and daughter. Sakura had finished serving and now held the empty tray in front of her like a folder,

"It's nice to meet you all; I hope you will all continue you to be frequent visitors here, for your beauty and charm is enough to inspire both myself and of course Rei chan." She reached into the pocket of her apron and withdrew a rose, all petals perfectly positioned and its colour the shade of blood; she presented it to the nearest girl who had exceptionally pink lips, "For you, miss. You're far more lovely than this rose, but I thought it may appeal to you."

The girl who had accepted blushed and beamed, while the others whispered approvingly. Sakura now gave a short bow, "would you please excuse me? I shall leave you with Father – oh forgive me, I mean Tamaki sama." She put on an air of being slightly flustered and embarrassed, while Tamaki leaned forward and took one of her hands and the surrounding girls cooed,

"Don't worry Sakura chan, you can call me Father all you like after work if that makes you happy."

Sakura's eyes sparkled with moisture, "Otou-samma…"

"Sakura chan… I promise, I'll never leave you alone in this cruel world again!"

The two embraced tenderly as the girls squealed, "The love between a parent and child is beautiful isn't it?"

"It is! It is!"

"I'm so glad Tamaki san found his daughter!"

"Me too! And isn't she too sweet?"

"I almost wish Master Tamaki was my father too!"

From a distance Kyoya, who had been writing on his clipboard once more, smirked, "Hey, not bad – sales may go up if Tamaki and Sakura play their roles well. There's definitely a market for girls who are searching for a father figure – that's the third lot to react in that way to their performance. Harumai san will definitely be an asset to us." He chanced a look at Rei who was scowling at a particularly annoying taunt Hikaru had thrown at her and causing a number of customers to shy away in fear,

"She's scary isn't she?"

"That frown of hers… it's creepy…"

He pushed the slipping glasses up his nose and sighed, "If only the same could be said for her."

--

Sakura sighed contently as she put the last few plates into a cupboard. The kitchen was now spotless, and she couldn't help but smile after a hard afternoon's work – even Rei's mood was lifting and that could only mean good things were to come.

After serving the customers that came to be entertained by the members of the host club the whole afternoon, she had to say that she'd gotten the basic idea of what the host club was all about. The customers were all girls who wanted to spend time in the company of attractive guys, and they were willing to spend money to fuel that desire. The host club simply catered for that need; by having a range of personalities and appearances, they were sure to attract a large number of girls and be able to suitably fulfil their wants. She and Rei were there simply to reduce the amount of work the host club had; now the members only had to interact with their guests, and all other needs were to be taken care of by the two of them.

Sakura's relationship with Tamaki as his 'daughter' was also to be exploited, as many girls would be attracted to the idea of the host club being a family; Sakura personally couldn't see it yet, but could not deny that their little performances had been quite rewarding. The girls had definitely responded well, and she could tell from the flash of Kyoya's glasses that he had plans to expand the new market.

Sakura looked at Rei, who at that moment was wiping off the last surface with an "I get to go home now!" expression; surprisingly she had taken quite well to the task forced 

upon her, and done her job with little complaint, though guilt towards the incident with Kyoya may have had a lot to do with it. She was polite to the customers and even offered a smile later on when Mori opened the door for her and she was thanked "for saving Bun-Bun" by a glowing Hunny. Now, though obviously tired, she was fuelled by the mere thought of going home; turning to glance at Sakura she stopped and snapped her fingers,

"Ne, Sakura chan, wake up. We gotta finish this – I've got a home to get to and some television to watch – what I'm trying to say is that I have a life that needs to be continued with." Rei grinned and winked as Sakura laughed.

"Right you are, Rei chan – well, in actual fact, I think I'm done here – I'll just go have a quick look around the room and then get changed."

Rei nodded and indicated her uniform, "You should have got changed as soon as the customers left like me. Now I only have to clean these surfaces and I can go – it's faster."

Sakura pouted, "You're not gonna leave me here, are you? It was your fault we got into this mess in the first place, so it'd be pretty mean…"

"Tch, yeah right – as if I'll leave – you'd totally hunt me down the next day if I tried that! Besides we live right next to each other, so that'd be pretty pointless."

Sakura smirked, "I'm glad you understand the situation, Rei chan. I'll be back in a bit," she took a step towards the door before stopping and turning her head back, "ne, Rei chan, where'd you get changed by the way?"

Rei stopped her assault on the table tops and walked to the door with her, pushing it open, "You see that door over there? It's a storage cupboard methinks; either way, when I passed it earlier I decided it was the best bet, especially seeing as the toilets could be anywhere in this gigantic school – I'd recommend you try that."

"Thanks Rei!" Sakura walked out into the main music room and glanced around as she walked – it was quite empty and clear, the host club having gone into one of the side rooms to have a brief meeting and the guests having gone. Everything seemed in order. Hurrying to a corner of the room, she picked up her uniform, which was tucked in a bag, and made for the room she now knew to be a storage cupboard. Reaching it she twisted the handle and stepped in, switching on the lights, closing the door behind her and giving it a brief scan. It seemed to be the only thing with any connections to music left, and far larger than she had expected – a number of instruments lined the edges and piles upon piles of music and papers were tucked neatly on the shelves. The one item that took up the whole floor space was a grand piano, black in colour and highly polished; she had to wonder how they got the thing in, and how, if ever, they were planning to take it out.

Sakura breathed in the smell of wood and felt her eye lids droop contently; instruments always had a nice aroma about them. Then, placing her uniform on top of the piano, she started to undo the bow of her apron; somehow she doubted that Rei would allow them to 

wear the maid outfits while performing their duties at the host club, even if Tamaki would be disappointed. She could already see them returning the clothes to the drama department tomorrow. Sakura sighed as she finally got the apron off and folded it, placing it to the right of her uniform, she really did like cosplay…

She started on the dress, unzipping the back carefully and drawing it down, shivering as she felt the cold on her bare skin; she was slightly surprised seeing as the main room and kitchen were pleasantly warm. Then again, she felt quite hot after her efforts, and stopped for a moment, holding the dress at her waist and closing her eyes for a moment; the feeling was quite pleasant on her hot shoulders, and with one hand she lifted the long sheet of golden hair up, exposing her back. Sighing her eyes suddenly flew open as she saw the door open and someone, a blond haired someone, step in, not facing her, but looking back out of the door as he called to someone outside,

"I'll just be a minute."

He closed the door as Sakura stood paralysed with surprise; she hadn't even heard him approach and- and what was he doing here anyway? Who in their right mind would need to come to the storage room? Well besides her of course – but she had a reason to be here, right? Sakura blinked as he slowly turned round – and, _why_ did it have to be Tamaki who caught her in such an embarrassing situation?

Tamaki finally saw her as he took a step forward and looked up casually; he froze in surprise and stared at her in complete amazement, mid-step. "Sa-Sakura chan, what're you doing here? Why would my little princess be in here-?" He finally drew his eyes from her face and noticed she was partly undressed – if you ever thought you'd seen a blush before, then the one that lit up Tamaki's face would tell you otherwise. He flushed a bright red and suddenly unfroze, meaning to step back and leave once again, "I'm so sorry Sakura chan, I didn't mean to – I didn't think that – I-"

Unfortunately for Tamaki, luck can be a cruel mistress, and today she definitely wasn't on his side. Having been half way through a step, when he tried to step backwards, he unwittingly stepped on the case of an instrument and stumbled forwards instead, losing his balance completely. Sakura, seeing what was happening, released her dress and stepped forwards to try and save the princely man from the fall – sadly lady luck wasn't with her either and the dress became tangled about her ankles so that she fell forwards too. The result was this: Sakura did succeed in catching Tamaki, or at the very least wrapping her arms around him; Tamaki didn't succeed in stepping back, but instead fell forwards; the two of them _did_ fall.

Sakura closed her eyes, clutching the warm body to her closely; the floor was cold, too cold for her skin but the warm material on her was an attractive source of heat. Without fully contemplating her situation she snuggled her head closer, and felt the arms that were held behind her shoulders and the hands on the back of her head pull her closer. It was then that she blinked and looked up. She and Tamaki had fallen, backwards in her case, forwards in his; he'd held her head to stop it being hit and she in turn had grabbed him 

and hugged him like a plush teddy. Hair splayed about her she looked at the concerned sapphire-violet eyes staring down at her and couldn't help but smile when she heard his next words, "Sakura chan, are you okay?" he was just so genuine it was hard to believe.

"Hai, Tamaki senpai – thank you for saving me – that sure would have hurt more if you hadn't protected me," Sakura giggled and gazed up at him through half-lidded eyes; she felt sleepy, and from here he looked like an exceptionally eye-catching blanket. Reaching forwards she curled her hands into his clothes and pulled him closer, shielding her skin from the cold.

It was now that Tamaki fully realised the significance of the position they were in, he then felt her pull him closer and, as any well brought up gentleman would, he panicked. The last thing he needed was a repeat of the earlier scene – Hikaru and Kaoru had already started to call him Lord Ecchi, and he didn't want to give any justification to _that_ nickname! Then again, her soft hair felt pleasant threaded through his fingers like that, and the way she was looking up at him… no- no! That wasn't something you thought about your daughter! Rather, you told everyone else how cute she was and patted her head telling her she was a good girl – _ah, that might work! Pat her head and tell her she's a good girl and then get up and help her stand – yes, yes, that'll work!_

Tamaki decided to put that plan into action; it seemed like the best way to get out of that situation. Poor, naïve man…

Tamaki smiled and tried to pat her head nervously, though the outcome was that he succeeded in stroking her hair gently, "Ah, Sakura chan, you're a good girl trying to help Father, now how about we get up?" he tried to draw away, but felt that she held on tighter instead.

Sakura inwardly pouted; she knew she'd have to let him up in the end, but it _was_ cold and he _was _a good-looking blanket – _well a few more minutes won't hurt…_ She really did intend to let him up, but it was his next words that stopped her and set them up for what happened next.

His plan having failed, Tamaki had considered what a father would do next – discipline! Yes, that was the answer! Once again, not considering the aftermath of his actions, he told Sakura what he believed any father would do in his position,

"Sakura chan, you're a very naughty girl." Seeing as Tamaki hadn't really the heart to scold her properly or even the ability to appear angry, his voice became rather sad, as though trying to appeal to her emotionally and as a consequence became deeper.

To Sakura, that sounded thoroughly inviting; she lifted her head to whisper into his ear, "That sounds so dirty, Tama chan," purposely dropping the honorific and addressing him intimately. She really was just playing with him; she loved to tease people, but she wasn't prepared for him to freeze up and blush as though his life depended on it, and much less 

for the door to open and for a set of red headed guys to look in, their faces breaking into identical smirks as they took in the scene before them.

--

"Ah, well it seems that-"

"- Lord Ecchi has in fact-"

"- struck again."

"That was faster than I expected, Hikaru."

"Well, it is Lord Ecchi, Kaoru. You've gotta expect great things from him."

"You're right – seems as though our Princely Lord has gone."

Hikaru turned to Kaoru with a serious expression, "Maybe he didn't exist?"

"You mean all along he was a pervert in disguise?"

"Yeah, and-"

"-now he's-"

"-breaking free!"

The twins laughed hysterically as Tamaki struggled to stand up, Sakura having finally released him.

Kaoru managed to stop for a moment and turned to Hikaru solemnly, "You know, Hikaru, I'm actually really surprised – I didn't think that Milord _had _any hormones, serious ones I mean."

Hikaru paused, placing a finger on his chin, "You know, you're right. I'm kinda surprised too." He shrugged, "Guess even Milord can do something unexpected once in a while – more importantly," Hikaru turned his attention back to the unfortunate king of the Host Club, the look in his eyes now more curious then anything, "why _are_ you two in here? We all know that Milord has the prowess of a potato when it comes to seducing a woman."

Tamaki spluttered uncomprehendingly, and rather indignantly. Kaoru nodded, "Oh, we're not denying that you can charm anyone of the female persuasion, but seducing? No, that's something I've yet to see any of our 'family' do, much less you."

Hikaru smirked, "Just imagine Kaoru – next thing we know, Milord will have Sakura in here almost naked."

Kaoru started to respond, but finally catching sight of Sakura, who up to this point had been hidden behind Tamaki, stopped short and stared, blushing slightly, "Yeah, like that would hap-pen…" Hikaru noticed his gaze, and frowning slightly at the hesitancy he turned to look in the same direction. He started.

Sakura smiled sheepishly at the twins, "Anyuu… I guess this kinda ruins the joke, huh?" She laughed nervously and feeling self conscious wrapped her long hair about her. One of the twins strode forwards and grabbed Tamaki by the arm pulling him out, still stuttering incomprehensibly,

"Milord we've got to have a talk about this – come with me." The two left, leaving Sakura with the second twin; she stared hard at the ground, unsure of what to say – this was really so silly – it was just an accident that was now probably being taken the wrong way. If Rei found out, she'd be more than willing to crack a few skulls before having heard the whole story; mentally Sakura sighed, feeling her shoulders droop as a response – she should have let Tamaki up earlier and not played games – that would have been so much simpler. Her head jerked up as she felt something placed on her shoulders and saw that the second twin had come over to her and placed his blazer around her.

Blushing slightly, he motioned her to sit on the piano's chair, which she did, staring up at him, "Sakura chan, I can tell this was probably all a big misunderstanding, but just to make sure – nothing actually happened, right?" He was purposefully looking to one side and continued nervously, "I don't doubt either of you – Milord really isn't the type to take advantage of anything, and I – I can tell you're not that sort of girl. The only one I doubt is myself – I could be wrong – so – so yeah…" Noticing her silence he forced himself to look at the girl sitting in front of him and blushed brightly when he saw that she was smiling softly, pulling the blazer closer to her body. "Um, what's wrong, Sakura chan?"

Her smile grew, still as soft as before, "Nothing much. Just thinking about how kind you are, Kaoru kun – how kind all of you are, really."

Kaoru blinked, "How did you know it was me and not Hikaru?"

It was Sakura's turn to blink, "How d'you mean? Isn't it obvious?"

"I suppose when you put it that way…" He paused and concealed a smile; the way she said it made it sound like they weren't twins, but completely separate individuals. It was a slightly strange and intimidating, but he couldn't describe it – when it came from her – somehow he liked it. Sakura reached for her uniform and started to get dressed, causing Kaoru to jump from his thoughts and return to reality, "Oh, if you're going to do that, it'd be better that I leave." He started to turn but stopped when she called him.

"Kaoru… I'd rather you stayed – it's kind of scary in here – now that I've noticed the spiders crawling up there!" She squeaked and indicated the ceiling where a couple of large spiders, legs thin and delicate, crawled easily yet ominously.

Kaoru looked up at them, and then back at her, "It's not like they'll hurt you… and besides, shouldn't you be more… embarrassed?"

Sakura shivered and brought her eyes down from the spiders. She laughed lightly, "Ha ha – not really – seeing as you three have already seen me like this, there's very little to be gained from modesty, right? All I'm doing is putting everything back on again – it'd be a very different story if it was the other way round."

"I guess you have a point."

"Sure I do – now can you please come over here? If one of them falls on my head I'll scream so loud it won't even be funny."

Kaoru relaxed and made his way back, glancing up at the spiders as he did so, "They won't fall on your head – besides they're probably more afraid of you." He smirked evilly as she buttoned up her blouse and pouted at him, annoyed.

"Are you implying that I'm scary?"

"Well, when you glare at me like that – it would be a lie to say otherwise, wouldn't it?"

She tossed her head to the side, her hair rippling as a result; "That's so mean Kaoru san – I'm not speaking to you until you apologise." She pulled her skirt up and adjusted her tie, finishing off the process. Making a point to look away from him as she folded the maid outfit, she glanced up at the ceiling once again, nervous. Then, in a panic, noticed that one of the spiders was missing – turning her head slowly to look at the piano, she found the missing arachnid, seemingly looking up at her. Slowly she blinked and turned to Kaoru, who was analysing a Saxophone, bored.

"You done yet?"

"Kaoru…" her nervous voice caught his interest and he turned to find her staring at him, trembling slightly.

"What's up?"

"Nyuu…" She jerked her head at the spider, which had now started to rear up slightly, as though preparing for a jump; "Th-that!"

Casually, Kaoru stepped towards the piano and swept the spider away with his hand; it fell to the floor and started to crawl about wildly. Sakura squeaked. Snatching up her bag 

she grabbed his arm and power-walked from the room. Once in the safety of the music room, she turned to him and sniffed reprovingly, "Why didn't you keep an eye on them?"

Kaoru shrugged and folded his arms, "They weren't exactly interesting – besides, I didn't think one would come down and decide to say 'hi.'"

"Is _that _what you call it?!"

"Geez, calm down – I saved you didn't I?"

Sakura's face softened, "Yeah… I suppose you did…" she suddenly smiled, "thanks Kaoru kun!"

Kaoru eyed her, "How can your personality change so easily? You were so mad and now-" he waved a hand.

Sakura looked to the side, contemplating. "Well, you could just say I'm a lot like you."

"In what way?"

She smirked, "We both act differently around different people." She watched as he raised his eyebrows, understanding, and she nodded, "I see you understand – but it's only natural to act. Very few people show all sides of themselves at once." She turned her head to a sofa where Hikaru and Tamaki now sat looking at them questioningly, "Come on – I think we're needed over there." She walked off, with Kaoru following in her wake, mind racing; _she understands us so quickly, it's… almost a little unnerving_. He watched her reach the sofa and drop down next to Tamaki with a cheerful greeting. Sitting next to his brother, he only half paid attention to the conversation that followed.

"Well baka-Lord explained what happened – he went to have a look at the piano, and saw Sakura chan in there. Then in his surprise he became clumsy and tripped, falling onto her – that's when we came."

Kaoru nodded, "That explains a lot – I'm guessing Sakura chan was in there to get changed, then?"

Sakura nodded smiling brightly, "Rei chan told me about it and it seemed like a good place, seeing as we don't know where the nearest toilets are."

Tamaki cleared his throat, speaking for the first time since they had arrived, "Anyway – Hikaru and I agreed that we'd keep this between the four of us – it would send out the wrong message to clients."

Hikaru sniggered, "Plus that Rei girl would pummel Milord if she found out, and we don't need more accidents with Kyoya." He leant back comfortably and smirked at 

Tamaki, who frowned slightly at his next words, "And besides, it's great to have a way to bribe Milord if need be."

Tamaki muttered darkly, but otherwise ignored him. "Well, then, now that we've sorted out that little misunderstanding it's probably best to-"

Sakura cut across him, "Ah, there's Rei chan! Looks like she's ready to go." She jumped up and gave Tamaki a brief hug and blush, "Bye Tamaki senpai – I'll see you tomorrow." She waved at the twins, "Hikaru, Kaoru – I'll see you later." and dashed over to Rei who was standing by the door clucking her tongue and tapping her foot impatiently. The two left, chattering happily as Kyoya strode over to the king of the host club.

"Well, Tamaki, today seems to have gone reasonably well, don't you think?"

Tamaki leaned forwards in his seat, "Ah yes! I think it was an unexpected success – even the third cousin played her role quite well – now, for tomorrow-"

Kyoya nodded and made notes on his clipboard as Tamaki rambled on happily, adding a "yes, yes" and a "That's simply impossible," every now and then. Hikaru glanced at his brother, who was unusually quiet, and poked his arm gently,

"Ne, Kaoru – wake up – we can go home if you're feeling sleepy – or – are you thinking about something?"

Kaoru nodded and gave his brother a warm smile, "Just about how interesting this year might be. You wanted something to break the monotone of school life – looks like you got your wish." The twins grinned at each other – yes, this year was definitely going to be something interesting, _that_ was certain.

--

Sakura flopped down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Today had been nothing short of extraordinary – she'd expected great things to happen at the world famous Ouran High School, but somehow she'd never imagined today. To think that a host club existed and that through a series of unfortunate circumstances she and Rei would end up helping them – it really was unbelievable. Everything was like something out of a manga or anime! Turning her head she stared at a manga laying there; in a manga something wonderful seemed to happen each day. If she was part of one now, would days like today continue to come? Was it really possible for anything to beat today?

Sighing she turned to the other side and slipped under the covers. Even if today was all a dream and she woke up tomorrow to find none of it had happened, she'd still be glad to have experienced it and to have met the fascinating Ouran High School Host Club. She closed her eyes and started to drift off… she must be in a dream…

"Bzzz Bzzz – Bzzz Bzzz" "Hikari no moto yami wa umare – shinjitsu wa itsuwari wa yureru - kokoro o tsukisasu!"

She groaned as her mobile phone started to vibrate and play her latest song obsession at an incoming message. Sliding out from under her covers she made her way over to it and gazed at the message through glazed eyes.

"Hikaru? Kaoru? Why are those two bothering me at this time of night?" She glanced at the clock on her desk and corrected herself, "I mean morning – it's 2am! Well… I did only just go to sleep ten minutes ago… but still! This had better be important."

She read the message slowly and blinked. Then re-read it again to be sure. Growling she texted a reply furiously and sent it, jamming her finger at the button angrily. Job done she dropped the phone back on her desk and returned to bed muttering darkly.

What had she said? Well if I tell you what their message was, I'm sure you'll have an idea;

"_Hey, Sakura! Forgot to say it earlier – we saw your underwear! P Thinking of you – Hikaru+Kaoru xxx_"

Sakura breathed out deeply under the covers and pulled a face – correction, this wasn't a dream – it was merely the start of something thoroughly unknown – but no mistake – with people like _that_, it was definitely a reality. She smirked and finally let sleep take her.

--

**Chapter 1 by Harumai Sakura/ Kamio Mitzuki/ Viz**

_A word from the author:_

Yay – after starting this chapter ages ago, I finally sat down and finished it. This would have come out at the end of 2007 and if I'd actually stuck to and done it as I should have and by now we may have been seeing a third or fifth chapter from me. Yep, that's right – this is another fic I'm working on with Momoko/ Rei/ Nez – boy, we have a lot of aliases don't we – how about from now on you call me Viz and call her Nez – it'll be easier seeing as we have a whole lot of fics on the way with a whole bunch of our alter egos – if we stuck to the current system there'd simply be a whole long list of confusing names XD.

So what do you think of it? Can you see the obvious point where I stopped writing and then picked up again? Do you like Sakura and Rei? Did I get across the host club well enough? As long as you don't flame, we'd be grateful to hear your opinions on this story, and of course Dying Embers – hopefully we'll get more reviews when it comes to this one. It's not a great chap, but I am a little rusty – hopefully I've improved since we first started Dying Embers in year 10 anyways (we're year 12 now).

Hopefully it was funny enough as a starting chapter – I promise I'll add more humour seeing as Ouran's that kind of anime/ manga in later chapters. Anyways – look out for the next chapter which is being done by Nez – she's in Belgium at the moment, so I doubt it'll be up any time soon – same when it comes to other fics. Then again seeing as I'm writing the first/ current chaps of all of them, you'll definitely be getting an update from Dying Embers, our new D.Gray-man fic will be coming out – and possibly some others. Ahhh I should be revising for exams!

See you guys later – love you lots!

Viz

xxx


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